


promise me, you'll always be

by tazernkaner



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 04:24:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8042533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tazernkaner/pseuds/tazernkaner
Summary: Patrick is more focused on Jonny than the movie itself and it hits him hard - the realization. He's been in love with Jonny for years, but it's not until this moment that he realizes how much he loves him.





	promise me, you'll always be

**Author's Note:**

> If you know anyone featured in this story, turn back for your own sake. 
> 
> :)

Patrick is a decisive and impulsive person. It's lead to his success, but also gets him into trouble sometimes.

          This decision comes easily, and Patrick doesn't think he could ever come to regret it.

           Jonny is laying with his head in Patrick’s lap, looking soft and warm wrapped up in a Blackhawks blanket. He's facing the TV, pretending to be watching the movie but his eyelids keep lowering slowly.

            Patrick is more focused on Jonny than the movie itself and it hits him hard - the realization. He's been in love with Jonny for years, but it's not until this moment that he realizes _how much_ he loves him.

            This right here is what he wants to do for the rest of his life - be with Jonny. In every stage of their lives. He wants to play hockey with him, to win more cups and feel like they're unstoppable. But he also wants to be by Jonny’s side when they both retire from the Blackhawks - maybe they’ll have children, maybe they’ll coach hockey camps, or just travel the world. Patrick doesn't _care_ , so long as it's with Jonny.

         He wants to find a way to tell all this to Jonny - but he can't think of any words to express the sensation warming his chest. He feels so full, so complete and so.... In love.

         The only words that keep popping into his head are “ _marry me”_ \- which is crazy because it's not something he's ever even thought about before. He was always content with where they were in life, no desire to change what was working perfectly.

           But it's like a switch went off in his brain - his eyes keep flickering to Jonny’s left hand, where his ring finger stood bare. Patrick wants to see a ring there - one that signifies that he will be Patrick’s forever.

          He wants to ask right then and there. The only thing stopping him is the fierce feeling that Jonny deserves _more._ He deserves it to be romantic and perfect and... Fuck, Patrick really needs to get a ring. 

*

 

He calls Erica first thing the following morning.

          “Can you fly out to Chicago tomorrow?” He says instead of a proper greeting.

         “What- fuck, what did you do?” She sighs and that probably says a lot about her opinion of him but he ignores that.

          “I need your help picking out a ring.”

          There's a silence that follows then, hanging heavy between the line. Patrick counts the tiles while he waits, doing his best not to dwell on what she's saying by not saying anything at all.

          “Patrick...” She sighs eventually. “I didn't... I wasn't aware that this was something you were thinking about.” She's clearly choosing her words carefully, trying not to offend him. Which in turn is doing exactly that.

           “I wasn't... Not until last night. It's feels right.” It sounds dumb now.

            “Last night? Have you considered what this means? You can't hide a _marriage_ \- it's legal and there will be papers. People will _know._ ”

            Truthfully he hadn't thought about any of that. But... He also doesn't want to hide their marriage - if Jonny says yes. The way he feels...it doesn't feel wrong. There isn't a _reason_ to hide it.

          It’ll be tough, but pretending not to love Jonny has been hard too. Maybe it's time that they come out.

          As impulsive as he was with the decision to ask Jonny to marry him, he says confidently “I'm prepared for all that.”

         “Alright.” Erica’s tone is gentler this time. “Book me the next flight, then.” 

           Patrick’s face splits with a grin. “You're the best,” he tells her. Then he adds quickly. “The second best, Jonny is first.”

          Erica laughs this time. “You're ridiculous, Patty. I'm hanging up on you now. Text me my flight details.”

 

* 

“Isn't it a bit plain?” Erica wrinkles her nose as she studies the ring that Patrick had asked the jeweller to take out.

         “It's for Jonny,” Patrick snorts with a dismissive hand wave. “He's not going to go around wearing diamonds.”

          “You know him best,” Erica concedes.

          Patrick smiles to himself. Jonny is going to love it. He can't wait to see the look on his face when Patrick is down on one knee.

          “This is the one,” he tells them both with brewing confidence. His stomach tumbles with an anxious feeling, the excitement starting to overwhelm him a little.

          “Perfect. We’ll have it ready in two weeks,” the man says as he places it in a velvet box.

           Patrick’s heart sinks. “Two weeks?”

           “It’ll need to be resized. The man who does that is on holidays.”

            Patrick pouts down at the ring. He doesn't want to wait two fucking weeks. He wants to do it _now_.

           “I... Should we look somewhere else?” He asks Erica. “I was hoping to ask before then.”

           “That's up to you,” she answers. Patrick looks back down at the ring and he knows that it's the one. He wants to see that ring on Jonny for the rest of his life.

         “I guess I can wait two weeks,” Patrick concedes with a frown. Truthfully he had wanted to ask tonight - but this gives him two weeks to plan the perfect surprise.

 

*

 

“Patrick?” Jonny calls out as Patrick is kicking off his shoes at the door.

         “Yeah, s’me,” he shouts back while heading towards the kitchen. He finds Jonny there, wearing only a pair of tight boxers, his hair messy and dripping from a recent shower. Patrick has to swallow down a whole bunch of feelings at the sight.

         “Hey,” Jonny says, and his lips instantly curl up into a smile. Patrick’s own smile follows involuntarily.

         “Hey,” he replies, voice low and hoarse.

           “I'm making breakfast.” Jonny turns back around to get to work at the frying pan.

          Patrick marvels at how truly incredible Jonny is. How did he get so lucky, to have this sexy guy who cooks him breakfast in his underwear?

         Patrick never wants to risk losing him, wants to make him his _right now_. The words are perched on his lips. But he doesn't have a ring, so instead he blurts “I'm going to take a shower” and sprints in the direction of their bathroom.

        He took a shower before bed last night, so he doesn't bother washing his hair or anything. He mostly just stands beneath the spray of hot water, letting it prickle his skin as he thinks.

        He thinks about the muscles in Jonny’s back, the bronze color his skin has become. About the way Jonny feels beneath him, the flex of his abs and the dumb smile he wears on his face as Patrick runs his hands along his stomach. He thinks about everything they’ve accomplished together - and everything they’ve fought through. There have been good times and bad times and _great_ times; Patrick wouldn’t change any of it. It’s what has brought them to this point; the comfortable love they’ve developed, the love that Patrick wants to bask in for the rest of his life.

          It reaches the point where he knows he can’t stand in the shower any longer. He shuts off the water and shakes the water from his curls. Truthfully, he’s no more composed than he was before he got the shower. Spending fifteen minutes thinking about how lovely Jonny is didn’t stop him from wanting to burst into the kitchen, towel still wrapped around his waist, and ask him to marry him.

           Jonny is sitting at their kitchen table when Patrick finally comes back to the kitchen. There are two plates of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon with whole wheat toast, set with forks and glasses of orange juice. Jonny is just sitting there, arms hanging straight by his side as he looks at the table with a furrowed expression.         

           Patrick clears his throat, still standing in the doorway. Jonny looks up and smiles, but it’s sad around the edges.

          “What’s up?” Patrick asks as he takes the few steps towards the table, pulling out a chair and sitting across from Jonny.

          “You tell me,” Jonny counters. He picks up his fork and stabs his scrambled eggs with it. “Is there something wrong?”

           Patrick hadn’t realized how tense his body was until it deflated with a long breath. “ _No_ ,” he gushes. “There’s... Jonny, I promise you there is nothing wrong.” He can see how running off to the shower in a mad panic after being out all morning with no explanation could be alarming.

           Jonny squints curiously at him for a couple beats before smiling the tiniest bit. “Alright, then. If there’s nothing wrong, you’ve got no excuse not to come to the gym with me.”

          Patrick rolls his eyes but he’s smiling anyway. “Yeah, alright, the gym it is.”

 *

 

Patrick is exhausted by the time they climb into bed that night, after getting up so early to go ring shopping, to the vigorous workout Jonny had put them through, and then the rounds of sex they’d had afterwards.

           When Jonny says “goodnight babe,” Patrick just mumbles something incoherent into the pillow as a response. He can feel the cool brush of Jonny’s lips on his forehead.

          “Love you,” Jonny adds as he shifts into his side of the bed.

          “Marry me,” Patrick sighs contently.

           “Wait, what?”

           Patrick shoots up quickly, suddenly wide awake. “Uh, shit, no, forget I said that.” _What the fuck_ , he’d totally meant to say ‘I love you too’ not ‘marry me.’

           “I don’t... That’s not exactly the type of thing I can forget, Pat!”

           Patrick runs a hand over his face, feeling like a complete idiot.

          “Did you... Do you not mean it?” Jonny asks hesitantly.

          “No... Yes. Of course I meant it.”

          “You don’t sound very sure,” Jonny snips back. Patrick can’t see his face in the darkness to read his expression. “If you didn’t mean it, that’s fine... I don’t know why you’d say it though.”

           “Oh my god, shut up Jonny,” Patrick groans in frustration. He rolls himself over so he can switch on his bedside lamp, then moves so that he’s sitting up. This isn’t a conversation they should have lying next to each other in the dark.

           Jonny’s expression is pinched, he’s not meeting Patrick’s eyes.

          This isn’t how any of this was supposed to go.

           “Of course I _meant it_ , Jonny. I ordered a ring this morning - that’s... That’s where I went this morning. To order you a fucking engagement ring. I wanted it to be special and now - jesus, I fucked it up.”

           “Yes,” Jonny says.

           “What? Yes what?”

           “ _Yes,_ Patrick. Yes I will marry you.”

           “Oh,” Patrick exclaims, completely dumbfounded. “Oh, shit, really? _Yes?_ ”

           “You’re an idiot,” Jonny laughs as he shifts to sit up too. “C’mere.”

           Patrick obeys easily, melting into Jonny’s kiss.

           “Wait... What about the ring? It doesn’t... It won’t be here for two weeks.”

           “That’s okay,” Jonny hums happily. “I actually already have one for you.”

            Patrick’s stomach flips with something at that - it’s one thing to know Jonny said yes to his proposal - it’s another to know Jonny has been thinking all the same things.

            “Were you planning something? Something special, like?”

            Jonny gives him a knowing smirk. “I was, actually.”

            Patrick grimaces. “Guess I kind of messed that up then,” he murmurs apologetically.

            Jonny shakes his head slowly, smile hanging unto his lips. “Nah, this feels right. Feels very us. I love you, Pat.”

            Patrick grins back, feeling like he’s won the top prize all over again. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've written Tazer's romantic proposal [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6784288l), and I decided to write the contrasting version of what I think Kaner's would be like. It's probably so far off basis but here ya go.


End file.
